Dutertes of Davao express ‘sympathy,’ ‘outrage’ over Zamboanga school shooting
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 18 August 2026) — Officials here, all from the Duterte family, have expressed their sympathy and outrage over the shooting incident at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Tuesday morning.
Mayor Sebastian Duterte, meanwhile, ordered security to be tightened within Davao City.
The City Information Office, in a statement sent to media, said Mayor Duterte has directed the city’s security beefed up around schools and other learning facilities “to further ensure the safety and security of our students.”
Duterte said the city sympathized with the victims, their families, and the people of Zamboanga.
“Our prayers and sympathies are with the people of Zamboanga, especially the victims and their families,” the mayor was quoted by the CIO as saying.
“In Davao City, we continue to implement security protocols in our educational institutions and work closely with [the Department of Education] and [the Commission on Higher Education] to ensure the welfare of our learners,” he added.
“These enhanced security measures will remain in place moving forward. We ask for everyone’s cooperation as we continue to uphold the culture of security in Davao City,” Duterte said.
Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte II, in an interview with MindaNews at the Sangguniang Panlungsod, said he was personally outraged and saddened by the situation, himself being a young parent.
“Our prayers, our thoughts are with the families, the victims,” said the vice mayor, who is the son of 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte and grandson of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“And we are working closely on this matter. Dili lang diri. Actually, it’s affecting the whole world. I just found out that there are recent school shootings in other countries as well. But we are working with the [Davao City Police Office], with the city government, the city councilors are doing their best to prevent this matter,” he said.
Asked what measures he would suggest to other cities and countries, Vice Mayor Duterte said “safety measures, safety protocols, stricter gun control … especially because we saw that he went live during the incident.”
A video clip was circulated online about the apparent perpetrator who livestreamed the incident, and showed the crime as it was happening.
“It’s very scary, it’s very alarming,” the vice mayor said.
He said city officials should be proactive and take care of the mental health of children, talk to them and find out how they are doing.
“It affects all of us. To fathers, brothers, mothers alike. Labi na ingon ani nga ang nagbuhat kay bata pa, estudyante pud. So we need to take action,” he said.
Second District Rep. Omar Duterte, for his part, said he felt “deepest sorrow and grave outrage” over the incident.
“My heart and prayers go out to the victims, the injured students, their families, and the entire school community affected by this heartbreaking event,” Omar said in a Facebook post.
“Schools must always be safe places where our youth can study and grow without fear. What happened today is a shocking failure in the security systems that are supposed to protect our children inside and outside school grounds,” he said.
“This tragedy brings up urgent and painful questions that we must answer right now: How did a student gain access to firearms, including a handgun and an assault rifle, and how were these brought inside the campus despite security gates and personnel?”
According to Omar, the eldest son of Rep. Paolo, the ADZU incident was a campus security and gun control issue.
“This problem points to a severe gap in campus security and weapon regulations. Keeping high powered firearms away from young people is not just the job of school guards,” he said.
“It demands strict accountability from everyone, most especially from parents, who must secure, control, and monitor any weapons at home so children cannot access them under any circumstances.”
Rep. Omar asked the Department of Education and Department of Interior and Local Government to look into the situation, as well as for the Office of the President to look at the matter “deeply and quickly.”
“We need urgent national direction, executive action, and concrete policies to fix our safety mechanisms across all educational institutions,” he said, adding that the situation was not a basic campus issue.
“It is a rising national concern that threatens the lives and future of our youth. We must create stronger rules, check school security strictly, enforce parental accountability, and take real steps to stop violence in our schools.”
On its official Facebook pages, ADZU confirmed there were two fatalities, while the local government of Zamboanga City confirmed that one of the fatalities was the underaged perpetrator.
“The Ateneo de Zamboanga University is saddened by the incident that happened today on our JHS campus,” ADZU said.
“As of now, we confirm that there are 2 fatalities. As for other information, we are coordinating with authorities for the full report with full details to be provided as soon as possible,” it added.
ADZU said it would release information to the public as soon as possible and urged the public to refrain sharing unverified information, photos, and videos “as these will only bring further harm to those involved and may hinder the ongoing investigation of the incident.” (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
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